


Play Mates

by Alliance (Xazz)



Series: Cypress Hall [24]
Category: Flight Rising
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-25 23:39:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14988053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xazz/pseuds/Alliance





	Play Mates

[Reza](http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=332919&tab=dragon&did=36309765) groaned nearly as hard as the table when Spayar put the small crate down on it. “More?” he whined looking up at his father.

[Spayar](http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=36112116) gave him a look, “You wanted to help,” he reminded him.

“I didn’t realize it’d be so _boring_!” Reza leaned back with an annoyed groan.

Spayar just chuckled. “You’ll survive somehow,” he said and patted Reza’s shoulder. “Tyger is helping too. It’s a busy time of year, everyone needs to help.”

“I know,” Reza sighed. Late spring was always a busy time in the Tangle. Between the livestock all having babies and all the planting that needed to be done and collecting the flowering herbs and new leaves it was pretty much non stop from when they woke up to when they went to sleep. Reza had volunteered for this to be taken off sheep shearing duty, which he hated. Their coats never got very long but it still got chilly up on the bluffs that was the Sunbeam Ruins and now that they had Vex it was more important than ever to make sure they were sheared early in the year so she had yarn to work with. But Reza hated shearing sheep. The wool always got everywhere and clung to his arms or hair and he preferred just not dealing with the entire thing if he couldn’t help it.

“Good. Get through this crate and we’ll break for lunch,” he patted Reza’s shoulder again.

“Okay,” Reza said like he was doing Spayar a favor. Spayar chuckled and left him at the table under one of the big trees where he was working.

Reza actually had it pretty easy today. He just had to weigh and tie up herbs and flowers for their requests out. They were all flesh and Reza had to make sure they were separated into even bunches for drying or to be given to Shai or Vrej fresh, depending on what they wanted. All the leftover went to Jessabelle’s shop for the next trading caravan that came through. So he had a little scale next to him with a small weight and a long ball of twine to tie the stems together. It was easy but incredibly boring and monotonous and he was doing it alone. He wished he could have some company. Only Vex didn’t have company for work but she liked being alone. He could hear the clatter of her loom from here.

Grimacing at the crate he picked up a bunch of herbs and started weighing them out. They were some sort of spring flower. He wasn’t sure what. He wasn’t a druid, he was a Seer, he didn’t need to know what sort of flower this was. And honestly, even if he was a druid he might not know. Spayar could have just _made_ it when they’d planted for the season and it was like nothing a regular druid would have seen before. Boredly he weighed the flowers and tied them into a bundle with some twine. When he finished he put them into another crate at his side that would be emptied later into either pouches for Vrej and Shai or hung up to dry in the Conservatory’s drying room.

He shifted in surprise when someone came and sat next to him on the bench. “R-Rahila,” he stammered.

“Hello, Reza,” she said nicely, her perfect brown curls pinned elegantly off her face and neck.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, a bit nervous. [Rahila](http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=38208293) made him nervous. She was older than him, beautiful, and a more powerful type of Seer than he. He had every reason to be nervous why someone like her would be so interested and into him.

“I came to see you,” she said and pressed her thigh against his.

He swallowed. “Well, I’m working. I’m helping my dad since it’s the season,” he said.

“Yeah, but isn’t that boring?” she asked.

He wasn’t an idiot, despite how she sometimes treated him. He swallowed hard, again. “He’s counting on me to do this,” he said firmly. “Even if it is boring. I’m going to do this.”

Rahila pouted at him. “But wouldn’t you rather do something with me?” and she leaned against him a little. Reza felt his face heat up a little.

Yes. Yes, he really rather would. But that was also the problem. She was distracting and always tried to get him to do things. She wasn’t mean about it, she wasn’t cruel. She was just… manipulative. And he knew she was. He let her do it too because he liked feeling like she wanted him. He liked knowing she was interested in him for whatever reason. He didn’t always like the feeling afterward after she’d gotten what she wanted but when he was with her he liked it.

“You could do this with me to make it go faster,” he said. She seemed surprised by the offer. “Spayar said when I finished this crate I could take a break.”

She wasn’t pleased with that answer. “I’d rather we go do something else,” she said, putting her hand on his leg.

He looked away from her for a moment before looking back at her. “Look,” he said, trying to be serious. It was sort of difficult when she looked at him with those big, soft, red eyes of hers. “I know what you’re doing.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“You know what I mean. I’m not stupid, Rahila. I don’t know _why_ you’re doing it but I can’t just always drop what I’m doing to entertain you. I have responsibilities,” that sounded good.

“You have responsibilities to your mate, too,” she said and Reza was so surprised that he couldn’t speak for a second.

“I’m sorry, my what?” he choked out.

“Don’t play dumb, Reza,” she said.

“You’re not-

“I’m not what?” she asked, pressed further up against him. “You certainly treat me like one,” she touched his shoulder and he suddenly felt really gross.

“You’re the one always coming on to me,” he shifted away from her.

“Well you don’t say no,” she said. She touched his shoulder again.

This time he pushed her hand down. “Don’t do that,” he said. She seemed honestly surprised. “I don’t like it.”

“You did before,” she said.

“Well I don’t now,” he said, brow furrowed. “I don’t need to explain myself. Not like you care,” he tried to go back to work.

“I do,” she said. “Would I bother with such a young thing like you if I didn’t? You should be grateful I’m even here.”

He scowled at her. “I didn’t _ask_ you to come,” he said. “I just… met you in the Deeprealm.”

“You were lost. I found you,” she reminded him. “Multiple times,” she added. “Other Walkers would love to have a Guide with them all the time.”

Reza glared at her. “Stop that. You’re guilt tripping me because I won’t fuck you. You’re not my mate. We just have sex sometimes because _you_ want to.”

“Don’t be rude, Reza.”

“You’re the rude one,” he said. “I don’t _belong_ to you,” he was growing more agitated.

“Just calm down.”

“Or what?”

She just looked at him. “You’re acting like a child throwing a tantrum. Shall I treat you like one?”

“I’m not throwing a tantrum. I just don’t like the way you treat me.”

“I’m nice to you-

“When you want to be!” he snapped. They both looked up when someone came over to them. He was surprised it was [Vex](http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=40083278). She was positively twitching as she stood there across the table. “Did you need something, Vex?” he asked her.

“I c-can’t focus,” she said and she wrung her hands like she was trying to pull them apart.

Reza glared at Rahila, “You upset her,” he said.

“You’re the one raising your voice for no reason,” Rahila said.

“Because you’re self-entitled.”

To his surprise Vex leaned over the table and put her hand over his mouth, her green eyes wide and unable to stay looking at one thing. “Please,” she just said in a whisper. She looked at Rahila. “Leave him alone.”

“I’ve done nothing wrong-

“Leave him alone,” she said again and her jittery wide-eyed stare unnerved Rahila enough that she leaned back. Vex looked right through Rahila in that way she could do. “Go on,” she nodded a little.

“Don’t tell me what to do, little girl.” Vex stood up and walked away like she’d never been involved. “Weirdo,” Rahila said softly when she was out of earshot.

“Don’t be mean. You know how she is. You were upsetting her,” Reza said.

“I was doing nothing wrong.”

“Just bothering me,” Reza growled.

“You like when I bother you.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You weren’t saying that yesterday,” she said with a slight smile and Reza flushed.

“Well, I’m saying it now.”

“Don’t be such a prude, Reza.”

“Rahila, I’m serious,” he pushed her hands off him again. “I’m not doing this with you anymore. You treat me like shit or your personal amusement.” She frowned at him. “Be nice to me and I might want to actually spend time with you outside of you wanting to have sex.” She made a face that let him know that really that was Rahila’s favorite part about spending time with him. Reza tried to be pissed about it but he just ended up turning bright red.

She sighed and got off the bench without saying anything and walked away. He watched her go with a slight frown. She walked down the dirt road between two sets of fields but stopped at one and leaned against a fence. He turned when new footsteps came back around. It was Spayar with Vex behind him, holding onto the back of his vest. “Reza, why isn’t this mostly done by now?” he asked, fists on his hips, looking at the crate Reza _should_ have been emptying.

“Uh—“

“Vex said you were too busy flirting with Rahila to be working.”

“I’d hardly call it flirting,” Reza scowled.

“Either way. You were bothering her. Keep it down, get your work done and you can go have a break. Von is making something nice for us with Tyger.”

“Okay,” he huffed and folded his arms, hunching a bit moodily.

“Keep it down,” Spayar reminded him and then left with Vex. A minute or so later he heard the clacking of her loom again.

Reza sat there grumpily, arms folded, scowling at his crate of flowers before finally huffing dramatically and going back to weighing and tying off the bundles of herbs. Still mad about the whole thing he plopped some of the flowers on one side of the scale to weigh them and tied them together. He did it a few more times before, to his great surprise, Rahila sat down next to him again. “What do you want?” he growled at her. “You got me in trouble.”

“I’m sorry,” she said and Reza was so shocked by that he could only stare at her. “What? Is there something on my face?” she asked and touched her face to make sure there was nothing.

“I just… didn’t expect you to say that,” he said dumbly.

“Well then that’s normal of you not knowing what to expect out of me,” she said with a flirty little smile. Reza looked around to make sure he wasn’t being tricked and pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming either. She reached over and took the bundle of herbs on the scale and wrapped some twine around the stems, tying it off with a surprisingly complex bow. Reza was still just sitting there, staring at her. “Well, didn’t you ask for my help? You going to weigh some more?” she asked, not touching him and was a more comfortable distance from him on the bench.

“Ah- erm- yeah,” he stammered and pulled some more herbs out of the crate. As he fumbled with them Rahila moved the scale a bit so she didn’t have to reach so far to take them to be tied. With her helping it went a lot quicker and even if they didn’t talk much after that he liked having the company. As they worked through the box Reza tentatively brushed his tail against hers and was immediately rewarded by her twisting hers against his. But she didn’t say anything. She wasn’t smug about it. She just did it. He liked that better than her acting so haughty.

When the crate was empty and the tied off crate full they were sitting closer and as Rahila finished tying off the last bundle Reza extended a wing around her. She looked over at him and smiled a little. “Thanks for the help,” he said quietly.

“Any time. You’re taking a break now, right?”

“Spayar did say that Von was making us lunch.”

“Oh… well, you don’t need to eat for your _entire_ break do you?”

“I guess not,” Reza smirked.

“Good,” she gave him a brief kiss on the lips and then got off the bench. “Let’s go get lunch,” and she dragged him toward the Conservatory. Reza resisted only long enough to drag Vex away from her loom to make sure she came with them to eat too so she didn’t stay at it all day. Rahila held his hand as they headed for the big building in the middle of all the fields.


End file.
